The Hill of Crosses

I have this daily calendar “1000 Places to See Before You Die” on my desk. Every morning, I tear a page from it and read about a new ‘must see’ place. Each day there would be a postcard photo of a great place, the printing was not that very good that everything looked dull. Until today.

It has been 3 months, 89 days to be exact, of flipping pages, for the first time I found a photo so enticing, some place that really makes me wonder if I could ever be able to go there.

The Hill of Crosses
Lithuania

From Wikipedia:

The Hill of Crosses (Lithuanian: Kryžių kalnas (help·info)) is a site of pilgrimage about 12 km north of the city of Šiauliai, in northern Lithuania. The exact origins are unknown, but it is considered that the first crosses were placed on the former Jurgaičiai or Domantai hill fort after the 1831 Uprising.[1] Over the centuries, not only crosses, but giant crucifixes, carvings of Lithuanian patriots, statues of the Virgin Mary and thousands of tiny effigies and rosaries have been brought here by Catholic pilgrims. The number of crosses is unknown, but estimates put it at about 55,000 in 1990 and 100,000 in 2006.

I googled more photos, and I am more attracted. HOW AMAZING WOULD IT BE TO TAKE PHOTOS THERE!

I don’t know, some people may find it weird, but I think I have a thing for taking photos of cemeteries, graveyards, and now, the hill of crosses. I find some sort of eeriness at the same time find these places like a piece of art. Regardless if it’s a high end cemetery, or a very dense, old cemetery, I still find all cemeteries like art.

I hope that soon, I can take some formal photography sessions in these types of places. I think they’re as beautiful as taking photos of sunsets.

C Minus

My Lakbayan grade is C-!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

It's a Chauvinistic World

c/o wikipedia

Chauvinism, (pronounced /ˈʃoʊvɨnɪzəm/), in its original and primary meaning, is an exaggerated, bellicose patriotism and a blind belief in national superiority and glory.

By extension it has come to include an extreme and unreasoning partisanship on behalf of any group to which one belongs, especially when the partisanship includes malice and hatred towards a rival group. Jingoism is the British parallel form of this French word.
A contemporary use of the term in English is in the phrase male chauvinism.

Because "chauvinism" is most often heard in this context, it is often mistakenly believed to refer exclusively to "male chauvinism" such as anti-feminism and sexism.

Chauvinism as nationalism

Chauvinism is an almost natural product of the national concept insofar as it springs directly from the old idea of the "national mission." ... (A) nation's mission might be interpreted precisely as bringing its light to other, less fortunate peoples that, for whatever reason, have miraculously been left by history without a national mission. As long as this concept did not develop into the ideology of chauvinism and remained in the rather vague realm of national or even nationalistic pride, it frequently resulted in a high sense of responsibility for the welfare of backward peoples.

Chauvinism as sexism
Male chauvinism is a term used to describe the belief that men are superior to women. The term was widely used by the feminist movement in the 1960s to describe men who believe or display an attitude that women are inferior to men, speak to women as inferiors, or treat women negatively based solely upon their gender. Female chauvinism is a less commonly used term used to describe the symmetrical attitude that women are superior to men.

The term female chauvinism has been adopted by critics of some types or aspects of feminism; leading second-wave feminist Betty Friedan being a notable example.These critics argue, for example, that in some gender feminist views, all men are considered irreconcilable rapists, wife-beating brutes, and useless as partners to women or as fathers to children.

Mas-gusto Ko Pa ang TSISMOSA

Oh, you gossipers, why don’t you just spend your time more sensibly? Besides, there’s always Lady Gaga or Kris Aquino to talk about. Why me?

Just because I have a headache doesn’t mean I am pregnant. It’s normal to have a headache. Haller?

Just because I said I wanted to snack doesn’t mean I am pregnant. It’s normal for human beings to be hungry.

Just because my weight is fluctuating, doesn’t mean I am pregnant. It’s normal to change your lifestyle every now and then. It’s even more normal for your dryer to shrink your clothes!

I’ve been married 1 and a half years; my church wedding was just 2 months ago.

I AM NOT PREGNANT. That doesn’t mean my husband has a problem, nor do I. Deennnng!

Oh, you old schoolers… please evolve.
Don't treat your brain as an artifact.

Magtanim ay 'Di Biro

Majority of my weekend time is now spent outside the house, with my attempt to awaken the "inner green" in me. The green thumb that is!

I go to Home Depot almost every weekend now. Buying pots, buying baby plants, gardening tools, etc. My mother has such green thumbs that she can grow anything, even dead looking plants. The problem is, she CAN grow ANY plant, and WILL grow ANY plant. So for those who've been in our house in Quezon City, the first impression they'll get from the facade is "Hansel and Gretel House" or "Hobbit House." What's in common? Foliage covering a small house. Haha. Unlike my mother, I tend to pick just what plants I want to care for. Most of them has something to do with color. I only want flowering or fruitbearing plants - with color.

My favorite as of the moment are the Vincas (aka Periwinkles). They are very low maintenance, they are perfect with Guam weather, they don't go very bushy, they are colorful, and the best part - they are abloom all year round! I plan to have as much Vincas as I can in front and around our house.

Me and my mother in law also bought a few orchids from the flea market. They say orchids are very low maintenance, but I SOOO DISAGREE! I remember my Grandma's garden having so many orchids of different varieties and I also remember just watering them every late afternoon, putting eggshells on them, that's it! My aunt also leaves her orchids by the window, and the orchid seems to be very happy. I have 5 orchid plants and as of the moment, only 2 are left healthy. I am not even sure if the other 3 are alive. I think they didn't like too much wind in the backyard, or maybe I didn't water them enough? Whatever, I'll stick with the Vincas for now.

This is the only happy looking orchid left. This one stayed indoors the whole time. Maybe the orchids I bought are made to just stay inside a cool house.

I also have a few edible plants. I have what they call boonie peppers here in Guam (aka siling labuyo in the Philippines). One of our friends here also gave us a few eggplants, Thai peppers, basil and mint. I bought a little cherry tomato plant couple of weeks back, and it already has fruits! Woot woot!

I am not afraid to get under the sun, but I have to say it's beginning to show now. I jumped two shades darker, according to my face powder. Hehehehe. I used to not like that shade because it was too dark for my color, now it is perfect! Haha!

Snake

It was a beautiful morning. I decided to get up at 6:00 AM. I ate a little breakfast (aka Leftover potatoes and eggs from Denny's the night before). While resting and psyching myself to not go back to bed, I watched John & Kate Plus 8 reruns.

Come 7:00 AM I went for a quick jog. I went several times around our village, appreciating the beauty of some of the neighbor's houses, and partly dreaming of how our house would look like had we owned it. Then I got reminded of how some part of me is still not happy that our landlord doesn't seem to have maintained the house we're renting in. There's so much to improve on. Wait, it's a beautiful morning, shake off the bad vibes and go back to appreciating the neighbor's flowers.

The sun was just beginning to be too bright around 7:30 AM so I went back to the house. It was a beautiful morning indeed. I decided to visit my baby plants first before going back in the house. My heart was still beating faster than normal by this time. I was happily walking to my backyard and what do I see? A DEAD SNAKE! What the f?! My knees shook. It took me a few seconds to realize it was a dead one. Whew.



When we got here in Guam, I attended an orientation for the military spouses newcomers and the representatives from USDA shared the truth about Guam and snakes. That it has been a huge problem before, but has been controlled. They said that for us military families who are here for only around 3 years, almost no one would probably see a snake.

I probably am too lucky then. Been here a year and already saw two snakes. First is the live snake trying to cross the hi-way (which later on became my first ever roadkill), and now this dead one.

I told my Mother in law about the dead snake and apparently here's what happened:

Our new neighbors from across the street are cleaning up their yard, they found two snakes. They killed both snakes and left it in front of their house for trash and debris pick up. Then the kids probably played with it and threw it to our yard! DARN YOU KID! Had I seen that happen, that kid would be reporting to his/her mother - in front of me. Grrr.

Doesn't matter if you live in a clean, peaceful, pretty little village; you still can't choose who your neighbors will be.